Friendships form in the weirdest of places
by Devil-may-care101
Summary: DL, FlackOC. Everyone finds that one person who remains a friend for life, usually in the last place you would expect to find them. And these friendships last through the good times, and of course, inevitably, the bad times too. QUITE VIOLENT START
1. Chapter 1

_Seeing as it is the holidays, I thought I'd write something else for y'all. This is not my usual style so is quite experimental, so comments would be appreciated._

_This chapter is quite violent, but I swear, it will not be all like this - the romance and frienship will come later on. The chapters will also become longer, as this one is quite short._

_Disclaimer: As I have said before, I do not own anything, even if i wished on my birthday candle._

_Enjoy_

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She felt herself being slammed up against the wall, the air forced out of her lungs, leaving her winded. She struggled to take even a short breath before she was pulled away from the wall and pushed into the door, face first. She felt a small trickle of blood across her eye, no doubt from the cut above her eye. Grimacing, her head was pulled backwards by her hair, and she could smell alcohol on his breath as he whispered into her ear.

"You should never have done that. This is your fault. This is what you deserve."

She went to reply, but was cut off as he wrestled her to the floor. She arched inwards as she felt the hard blows to her stomach, wincing as she heard something crack. Using the last reserves of her strength, she raised her foot and kicked him, hard, where she knew it would hurt. Feeling his weight fall off her as he swore in pain, she attempted to scramble to her feet, blindly searching for something she could use to fight him off. She fell hard as she felt his hand wrap around her ankle, and she kicked him again, this time out of desperation, with no real power behind the kick. He pulled her towards him once more, sliding her across the floor inch by inch. Grasping wildly, she felt something solid and she wrapped her fingers round it, before twisting around and smashing the photo frame into his face. Glass sprinkled everywhere and his head whipped to the side, blood blossoming from the laceration to his cheek. This time, she managed to get to her feet, and she ran, limping towards the door.

He lunged at her, growling in pain, and the force of his body knocked her over. She fell, and her head slammed hard against the floor. Momentarily paralysed, stars shining in her eyes, she was helpless to fight against him as he manoeuvred himself on top of her.

Smelling his breath once more, she came to her senses, and started kicking. He pinned her legs down, but she carried on attempting to kick, trying to dislodge his weight from her. He slapped her hard, and she let out an involuntary shriek from the pain. Even thought she was injured, she carried on fighting, scratching at him with all her might, as he fumbled with the buttons on her shirt. She could her screaming in her ears, which was putting her off, until she realised that she was the one screaming.

"Get off of me, you bastard!"

He punched her in the face, and her mouth filled with blood, choking off her screaming. Squinting, she spat the blood out of her mouth, seeing his once white shirt was now crimson with blood. Her blood. He punched her again, and she fought to maintain consciousness as the stars once again swarmed her vision.

In one last attempt, she brought up her knee and hit the spot that was already sensitive from her previous kick. He rolled off of her, curling into a ball, trying to hide from the pain.

"Stupid Bitch!"

She had no strength left in her legs, so she crawled across the floor, heading towards the door, shirt open and covered in blood. One foot dragged behind, due to the damage inflicted on it earlier, when he'd stomped on her ankle.

She tried desperately to increase her pace as she heard him behind her, already recovering from the blow she'd inflicted. She heard his footsteps across the hardwood floor, the sounds echoing in her head. Reaching the door frame, she pulled herself up, using the frame for support. She stumbled forwards, but managed to keep her balance.

Before she could take another step forwards, she heard it. The unmistakable click of a revolver. She paled as she realised this was the purpose of his visit. Not just to inflict as much pain as humanely possible, but to kill her.

She almost fell once more as he grabbed her arm, hard enough to leave a bruise. He spun her around to face him, smirking sadistically as he saw the fear in her eyes. But the smirk was soon wiped from his face as he heard a noise outside the door.

He took a few steps backwards, still aiming the gun in her direction, but pointing downwards towards the floor. She took that opportunity to start screaming once more, trying to alert someone to the fact she needed help.

"Hey, you alright in there?"

The male voice outside the door distracted him, and she took her chance. Instincts kicking in, she realised she needed to disable him, otherwise whoever was out there could also become a casualty. With as much strength as she could muster, she leapt at him, the jump taking him unawares. Both of them crashed to the floor, both frantically fumbling for the gun, him yelling, her screaming for help. Both were silenced as the shot echoed around the room.

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_Reviews are much appreciated - esp as I don't usually write such violence_


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's the next chapter for all you lovely readers - just wanna say thanks so much for all the reviews, I wasn't expecting quite so nice ones :)_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing, never have and never will - but Gemma is mine!_

_Enjoy!!_

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"Oh come on, I can not believe you two are siding against me." Lindsay Monroe laughed as she pushed open the door to her apartment building, with Don Flack and Danny Messer in tow.

"What can I say Monroe, must be a New York thing." Flack joked, earning a glare in the process.

"Either that, or the fact that the Batmobile IS better than Mach 5." Danny added, jumping out of the way as Lindsay went to whack his arm.

"No chance Cowboy."

"I think 2:1 odds are pretty good, don't you Montana?"

Lindsay took a deep breath before throwing her hands into the air out of frustration. "Fine. Believe what you want. But that won't change the fact that the Mach 5 IS better than the Batmobile." With that she started walking up the stairs, cursing the fact that the elevator was broken for the third time that month. She could hear the two men giving each other high fives because she'd given in, and she smiled to herself at how childish they could be. Especially as the case had been almost a year ago. Secretly, she thought the two men just got a kick out of siding against her, even if it was only playful banter.

She carried on walking up the stairs, thankful that she was only on the third floor and that they hadn't gone back to Danny's after work - he lived on the 12th floor, and after the day she'd had, she couldn't be bothered to do anything more than crash on the couch and watch mindless TV.

That's when she heard the first scream. She froze, her hand already reaching for her piece as she tried to determine where the noise had come from. She was nearly knocked off balance when Flack walked into the back of her - he hadn't been looking where he was going and he hadn't noticed that she'd stopped.

"Sorry 'bout that Linds." He said, trying to ignore the smirk on Danny's face as he helped her up.

"Ssssshhhh! I heard something." The urgency stopped both men in their tracks, and they looked at her puzzled as she continued to strain her ears. She'd almost convinced herself that she was hearing things when she heard the next scream, high pitched and terrified, and much closer than before. This time both men heard it too, and they glanced at each other before reaching for the pieces and moving silently up the stairs.

Pausing at the top of the stairs, they realised that the screaming was much closer than they'd thought. Lindsay gasped as is sank into her mind that this was HER floor. There were only 3 apartments on this floor, and as Denise from across the hall was visiting her cousin in Connecticut, there is only one person who could be screaming.

"Oh my god. That's Gemma."

Flack crept closer to the door, gun raised in front of him, before resting his ear against the door.

"Hey, you alright in there?" He started when the screaming started again, and after glancing back towards his colleagues, took a step backwards, getting ready to kick the door down. He felt Lindsay and Danny behind him, glad that they had his back, but froze when he heard the gunshot.

Wasting no more time, he kicked the door down. "NYPD!" From his position by the door, he could see a girl lying on the floor, blood pooling from her stomach. As much as he wanted to make sure she was ok, his instincts kicked in, and he made to clear the rest of the scene. Edging along the wall towards the living room, he rounded the corner and saw a man on his knees, shotgun in his hand, looking around wildly for an escape. "NYPD! FREEZE!" Flack yelled again, hoping to disarm the man before he panicked.

Flack saw the man aim his gun towards Lindsay and his instincts took over. Without thinking about the consequences, he leapt at the man in a flying tackle, forcing him to the floor, knocking his aim wide.

Lindsay had walked in behind Flack, ahead of Danny, but her training went out of the window when she saw her neighbour lying in a pool of blood. Taking a few steps forwards, she was pushed against the wall by Danny as she felt a bullet whiz past her ear. In the background she heard Flack struggling with the suspect, and when she turned around, she wasn't surprised to find the suspect on hid back, already cuffed.

Remembering the woman on the floor, she hurried forwards and fell to her knees besides the bleeding woman. Feeling her wrist, Lindsay felt a faint weak pulse. "I've got a pulse. Call EMS!". Peeling off her sweatshirt, she balled it up and pressed it against the wound.

"Gemma? Gemma, can you hear me?" No response. Gemma lay on the floor, scratches all over her body, half undressed, a faint sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. With no warning, her eyes began rolling in the back of her skull, and she started to convulse. Alarmed, Lindsay tried to remember everything about her neighbour as she could, trying to remember if she had any allergies or medical conditions that could account for her behaviour - working the hours she did, she barely met her neighbours.

Danny knelt down besides her. "EMS are on their way. 3 Minutes."

"Danny, find her bag. Maybe there's something in there that can help us." Lindsay's panic was clear in her voice even as she tried to stay calm.

Flack, having cuffed the suspect, located her bag near to the doorway. With one knee firmly pressed into the man's back, he reached out. Hands fumbling for the strap that was just out of reach. He finally grasped it, and pulled it towards him. "Danno, catch." He lobbed the bag at Danny.

Danny caught it and immediately went through the contents. Tipping them on the floor, he searched through the woman's belongings until he found a small red inhaler. The label said Symbicort, containing terbutaline sulphate - she was asthmatic.

"Linds, she's asthmatic - she must be having an attack. Try this." He passed her the inhaler, and helped to move the woman's head into a position so that the drugs could take effect. After a couple of inhalations, the convulsions began to slow until they stopped completely. Lindsay gasped a sigh of relief, but remembered - it wasn't over yet. They still had the gunshot to deal with. The balled up jumper had slowed the bleeding slightly, but she was still losing too much blood.

Thankfully, the paramedics had arrived, and soon enough, Gemma had been strapped to the board and was being taken out of the building - she'd been stabilised for now, but was in need of immediate surgery. Lindsay spoke in detail about who she was, the way they found her and that she'd had an attack, and the paramedics said they could take it from there. After a brief conversation with Danny, it was decided that she'd go with Gemma to the hospital, so they could be updated on her condition and in case the doctors needed any more information. With a quick glance back, she darted out of the room after the stretcher.

Finally breathing a sigh of relief that the woman was in capable hands, Danny took in the apartment. It looked like a war zone - furniture was upturned, glass was everywhere, blood coated the floor. There was a busted window to one side - the point of entry from the fire escape outside. Flack had already called Mac, and he was sending Stella and Hawkes to process. All they could do now was wait.

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_If any of the medical related stuff sounded off I apologise, I am not a doctor and although I do have asthma, the only attack I've ever had was whilst unconscious so i don't know how believeable this was._

_Reviews are much appreciated :) Just click the little button below..._


	3. Chapter 3

_Heres the next chapetr for you. Was on a bit of a writing spree this afternoon so I hope this is up to scatch for you all._

_Disclaimer: Same as always - own nothing_

_I know I know, its all a bit angsty at the moment but I promise you that will change in the next couple of chapters. Please review!_

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Lindsay paced around the waiting room, desperate for some news on Gemma. Twice in the ambulance she'd gone into cardiac arrest, and Lindsay had been forced to sit there, holding her hand, begging her to pull through as the electricity from the paddles shot through her body. Upon arrival, Gemma had been whisked away to surgery, nurses and paramedics alike assuring her that she would be the first to hear of any news.

A nurse came along and asked if Lindsay needed anything, but Lindsay declined, saying she'd wait until she heard some news first. The nurse then left, whilst Lindsay sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair to rest her aching muscles after such a long day.

As she waited, she let her mind wander. She hadn't known Gemma for very long, having only just moved into her apartment a couple of months before, but she did remember their first encounter, as brief as it was.

_Lindsay carried the last of the boxes up to her apartment, sighing in relief as she exited the elevator on her floor. After almost a year of living with Uncle Freddie, she finally had her own apartment. Not that she didn't appreciate what her uncle had done for her, but she knew that it was time for her to start to live her life in the big city by herself._

_Holding the box under her arm, she tried to get out her keys so that she would be ready to lock up as soon as she'd entered her apartment. But trying to walk, carry a box and get her keys out resulted in her dropping her keys on the floor. Cursing, she tried to bend down without dropping her box, but ultimately, she failed, and the contents went all over the floor. The only good thing about it was that it only contained old books and nothing that would leave her embarrassed if anyone was to come along._

_As she put the last of the books back into the box, she stood, failing to remember that she hadn't picked up her keys. She probably wouldn't have noticed until she'd gotten inside but then she heard the voice behind her._

"_Hey, I think you dropped your keys!"_

_Turning, Lindsay caught sight of a young woman walking towards her. The woman had a tired yet pleasant smile on her face, which was framed by long black curly hair and deep green eyes with insanely long eyelashes. As she walked, she gave off an air of confidence that most people didn't have. She held out the keys to their owner, and Lindsay took them, grateful that she didn't have to bend down again._

"_Thanks."_

_The woman gave her a quick glance over, eyes resting on the box before returning to look Lindsay in the eye. "You moving in? Which apartment?"_

_Lindsay smiled. "3C."_

"_Oh thank God. Its about time that the old bat that lived there moved out. I'm Gemma by the way, and I live in 3B with my roommate Jenny, so we'll all be neighbours." _

"_Its good to know that I'll know at least one of my neighbours. I'm Lindsay." The two women shook hands, before Gemma spoke again. _

"_Well once you're all moved in, you'll have to come over and I'll introduce to the rest of the bunch."_

_Lindsay instantly liked this girl - she was friendly without even trying and she was doing her best to make Lindsay feel welcome._

"_That would be nice, except I do work so pretty crazy hours."_

_Gemma waved her hand dismissively. "Don't we all. Just let me know when you're free and we'll work something out." Just then her pager went off. "Damn. The job never stops. Well it was nice to meet ya Lindsay. If you need anything, I'm right next door, and Jenny will be just as willing to help you out. You want any help moving in or anything, we're both free all weekend."_

"_Thanks, I'll bear that in mind." With that, and one final wave, Gemma left, back in the direction that Lindsay had just come._

_Lindsay smiled. Maybe living by herself wouldn't be as hard as she thought._

Gemma had been true to her word. The following afternoon, which Lindsay had off, Gemma and Jenny had turned up on Lindsay's doorstep, both ready to help her settle in. That afternoon, all three girls had become firm friends. They weren't able to spend much time together, as they all worked some mad hours - Lindsay being the criminalist, Jenny being a paramedic and Gemma being a lawyer downtown, they all worked long hours which didn't usually correspond with each others free time. Yet they remained friends, and they still met up at every chance they got.

Lindsay frowned to herself. Internally, she worked out where Jenny was - usually she worked the night shifts on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Today was Tuesday, so Jenny wouldn't be at work, but then Lindsay remembered that recently, Jenny had been spending more time at the library, studying for some exams. Lindsay doubted that Jenny knew about what had happened to Gemma, so she took out her mobile. No service. Lindsay swore under her breath. She'd just have to wait until Jenny went home - she'd find out from Flack or Danny.

Thoughts of Jenny where pushed to the back of Lindsay's mind when the surgeon came walking towards her. "Miss Monroe? You're here for Gemma Atkins?"

"Yes."

"Are you family?"

"No, but I am her next door neighbour, best friend, and I am also the one who found her after she was attacked. I'm one of the detectives that will be working on her case." Lindsay knew this probably wouldn't be allowed, but at that point, she didn't care - she just wanted to know that Gemma would be ok.

"Ok. Well, Miss Atkins is out of surgery now, but it was a bit touch and go during the surgery. Obviously her asthma made it a bit harder, but overall the surgery was a success. She sustained 3 broken ribs, a mild concussion, a fractured ankle and jaw, numerous bruises, and a punctured lung. And of course the bullet caused a lot of damage - the bullet penetrated the liver and part of the small intestine after it ricocheted. There were large amounts of internal bleeding, which we have managed to locate and fix, and there is also a slight infection in the large cut on her forehead. Right now, Miss Atkins is in a surgically induced coma - we're afraid that after the trauma she suffered, her body may not be able to cope until her wounds are at least partially healed."

"But she will be ok?"

"Well at this time it is hard to say. Obviously, if she makes it through the night without any major problems, the chances of a quick recovery are greatly increased. She will be in a lot of pain for a while, but she should recover fully, as long as she rests and doesn't get too stressed out."

"Can I see her?"

"I will send a nurse to notify you when we move her into ICU, but obviously she will not be conscious. Do you have any questions?"

"Thank you doctor. I only have one question: was she raped? When we found her, her clothes were torn and it was clear she'd put up a fight."

"As of yet, I would say that no, she hasn't been raped, but that was not something we were looking for. We can send for a nurse to do a SART if you would like, but overall it didn't look like she had been sexually assaulted."

"Well, we'll wait and see. We'll have to wait until she is conscious before we can take her statement or get her permission for a test to be done."

"Very well. I'll send a nurse to tell you when Gemma has been moved."

With that, the surgeon left, whilst Lindsay breathed a sigh of relief - Gemma was going to be ok. Now they just had to wait until she woke up so she could tell them what happened.

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_So, was this ok? I wasn'y sure about it, but I couldn't think of any way to make it better._

_Next chapter: Back at the apartment and the introduction of Jenny_

_Reviews make me work faster, hint hint :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Ok ok I know I'm terrible that I haven't updated sooner, and I'm sorry about that, just had a lot on the go._

_Here is the next installement for all you lovely people, I hope you like it, I don't know how this turned out. I hope it's up to expectations :)_

_Thanks to all those who read, alert and review_

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything other than Gemma and Jenny (man is that a mouthful)_

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Flack stood next to Danny, watching whilst Hawkes and Stella processed the girl's apartment. This was not the evening he'd had planned. He wasn't even on call that night. But work somehow always managed to get in the way, as if it followed him wherever he went.

He sighed and stretched, trying to ignore the blood pool on the floor. Even after all these years, the sight of blood still gave him the jeebies, and every victim would haunt him. At least until the next Vic came along.

But tonight was different. This time, the Vic hadn't been dead, and had clearly fought to stop her from becoming dead. It had been a long time since he'd seen someone who had fought so hard. Usually, the victims he dealt with had been killed with a bullet or a knife or a blow to the head, and that meant they'd had no chance to fight back.

But this was different. Because the girl had fought back. And fought hard. Flack just hoped it wasn't all for nothing.

As soon as the cops had arrived at the scene, he'd handed over the cuffed guy to them, fighting the urge to wipe his hands on his jacket afterwards. Something about that man was familiar, but he couldn't place what it was. He shook it off, certain the answer would come to him in time.

He watched as Hawkes collected the glass from the floor, watched whilst Stella took the numerous blood samples from around the room. He let his eyes glaze over, tiredness seeping into his bones, and time seemed to stand still. When he managed to refocus, he noticed that processing had been finished, and as the guy was in custody, the uniforms on the door were beginning to leave.

He caught Danny, Stella and Hawkes having a conversation near the door.

"…should be a slam dunk case, seeing as we caught the guy in the action, and we have the evidence to back it up." Stella was saying "But obviously, we will need to get the Vic's statement as a formality. How is she doing?"

"I don't know," Danny answered "Linds rang whilst you were processing and she said that the Vic was out of surgery but was in a coma due to the extent of her injuries. It's a bit touch and go at the moment, but she said she'll ring us if anything happens and she'll explain exactly what the injuries were later."

"How is Lindsay doing?" Hawkes asked.

"A bit shaken up ya' know? This girl is her neighbour and she once told me that even though they didn't see much of each other they were close. I'm gonna go and join her in a bit so she isn't by herself. You wanna come too Flack or are you gonna call it a night?"

Flack was saved from answering by a loud scream that erupted from the front door. The four team members whirled around just in time to see a brunette cross under the crime scene tape. Flack rushed forwards and prevented her from carrying on.

"Oh my god what happened? Where's Gemma? Who are you?" The woman's cries were verging on hysterical.

"Miss, I'm Detective Flack, and this is Detectives Messer, Bonasera and Doctor Hawkes. You can't be here right now as this is a crime scene."

"But what happened to Gemma? Where is she? Is she ok?" The woman peered around Flack trying to find her roommate and froze when she saw the blood, before collapsing to the floor. Stella hurried to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Are you Gemma's roommate?"

Between sobs, the woman answered "Yes, I'm Jenny. What happened?"

"Jenny, Gemma was attacked and possibly raped. She's in the hospital with Lindsay."

"Is she going to be ok?"

"I honestly don't know. From what Lindsay told us, it sounds as if there was a lot of damage inflicted. I hate to ask you this right now, but do you know of anyone that would want to hurt Gemma?" When Jenny shook her head, Stella continued "Well, do you recognise this man? We found him here so we assume he is the one that attacked Gemma."

Jenny shook her head again. "No, I'm sorry. Why would he want to hurt Gemma, she didn't do anything to anybody." She began to cry again.

Stella looked up briefly before turning back to Jenny. "Ok, I have to go now so that we can find out exactly what happened. Detectives Messer and Flack will accompany you to the hospital so that you can check up on Gemma and make sure she'd ok. Does she have any family that we need to contact?"

"Erm, just a brother in Chicago, but I can ring him on the way to the hospital. I think he'd take it better from me, but he's still gonna be angry. He never wanted Gemma to move out here - he said it was too dangerous for a girl to live alone in the city, but Gemma just ignored him. Ever since her parent's died in a car wreck a few years back, Jack's been really overprotective of his baby sister. Turns out he was right to be…" Stella patted her shoulder before standing and picking up the evidence she'd collected.

"We'll let you know when we identify this guy, and we'll give you a ring at the hospital. Gemma will be ok; she put up a hell of a fight so I assume she won't give up now."

Jenny smiled briefly, her eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot. Yet Flack couldn't stop looking at her. She had shoulder-length chestnut hair that had been held back with an Alice band. She had china white skin, that had nothing to do with the shock she'd just had, and she had been graced with high cheekbones. As she stood, Flack noticed that although she was not petite, she was not tall either. She was dressed in jeans and a torn white T-shirt with sneakers and an elastic band around her wrist. Not his usual type, not by far.

Flack forced himself to stop his train of thought right there. Here this woman was in a state of shock after her roommate had had the crap beaten out of her, and he was checking her out? He shook his head, ignoring the knowing look that Danny was sending his way - he had more important things to do.

Reaching out a hand, he steered Jenny forwards towards the door with Danny close on his heels and lead her out of the apartment towards the elevator and then to the car. Flipping on the sirens (although that was not strictly necessary), he manoeuvred the car into the street and took off towards the hospital, occasionally glancing in mirror at the distressed woman in the back seat.

Taking one look at her desperate expression, he put his foot on the gas. Hell, if you couldn't use the police benefits for this, what could you use them for?

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_So what did you_ _guys think? Like, hate? I know_ _it isn't really a cliffhanger, but please review all the same!!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Shamefull I know that I haven't updated in a whilel, but I find this story really hard to write, as I'm much more of an angsty writer than friendship and romance. Hopefully I pulled this chapter off._

_Thanks to all my lovely readers, reviewers and those who alerted/favourited._

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine_

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Jenny jumped out of the car before Flack had even cut the engine. Yanking his keys from the ignition, Flack leapt out of his car door, and followed her as she raced towards the hospital, waving his hand over his shoulder in an attempt to lock his car.

Jenny skidded to a halt outside the nurses' station, and flagged down the nearest member of staff. "Gemma Atkins. Where is she?"

The nurse blinked twice, and tried to calm down the near hysterical girl in front of her. "Miss, I'm sorry, but you can't be here right now. Visiting hours ended a long time ago."

"No no you don't understand, Gemma was brought in a couple of hours ago. Is she ok?" Jenny was speaking much to fast for the nurse to be able to keep up, and she stood there wringing her hands whilst she rambled.

Flack decided to cut in. Flashing his badge at the nurse, he said "I'm Detective Flack and this is Detective Messer from the NYPD. Miss Atkins was brought in earlier after being badly beaten, and we really need to speak to her. We would be grateful if you could tell us where she is. This is Jenny, Miss Atkins's roommate and emergency contact."

The nurse, after taking one look at the badge, nodded and walked towards the computer. After a couple of minutes searching, she found who she was looking for. "Miss Atkins is ICU 3, which is on the third floor. If you go down to the corridor to the left, then take the first right, you come to an elevator. On the third floor, turn left and you turn into the ICU ward. Doctors up there will be able to discuss her condition and treatments with you."

"Thank you." Flack took Jenny's arm, noting the glazed expression, and led her down the hallways the nurse had described, Danny right behind them. It only took a short while to reach the elevator, and an even shorter time to reach the third floor. Once they arrived on the ICU ward, Flack couldn't help but notice the bright colours and friendly atmosphere - a boost that would hopefully aid patients on their road to recovery. However, the smell of antiseptic was still as strong as ever, and Flack wrinkled his nose against the smell he'd learnt to despise after spending such a long time in hospital himself after the explosion.

Finally, after stopping once to receive directions from one of the staff, they arrived in ICU 3. The first sight that greeted them was Lindsay, sitting on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, running her fingers through her hair distractedly. Hearing their footsteps on the linoleum floor, she looked up, worry and anger plain on her face, and she stood to meet them, arching her back to try and sooth her tired and aching muscles.

"Hey guys." Lindsay stepped forwards to greet her friends, and almost immediately pulled the younger woman into a hug.

"How is she?" Jenny pulled back, glancing around her towards the glass window to her left.

Lindsay smiled softly. "She's going to be ok. It just looks worse than it is. She's in a coma at the moment so that her body can heal, but the doctor is confident that she'll be ok in no time."

"Can I see her?"

Lindsay hesitated. "I don't know. I was in her room, waiting for you guys to arrive, but the doctors kicked me out about half an hour ago, saying that they needed to run some preliminary tests to make sure there was no internal bleeding. No ones come out yet to tell me anything." Jenny nodded, and stepped up to the window, gasping loudly when she saw the state of her friend.

"Oh my god." Jenny's voice was soft, barely detectable. Turning around briefly, she addressed all three detectives. "Find the bastard that did this." Returning to her previous position, she watched as the doctors performed their tests, as the other three withdrew slightly to give her some space.

Flack's cell phone went off, and the sound echoed through the empty hallways, causing Jenny to turn around again, startled. Excusing himself from the group, he turned and answered the phone in a clipped tone, signalling his dislike for being called into work when he was off shift.

"Flack."

Watching Flack walk away, Danny muttered to Lindsay "So how bad is it really?" Lindsay cast a quick look in Jenny's direction, finding her once again faced towards the mirror, and once she was certain that Jenny wasn't listening, she answered, shaking her head from side to side. "It's bad. The beating was horrific and although they think she's going to recover completely, it's going to take a long time. Both physically and mentally. The doctors had to put her into a coma to make sure her body healed well enough before the emotional stress shut her body down."

Danny shook his head. "Poor kid. You guys are close huh?"

Lindsay nodded. "We haven't known each other long, as we don't spend much time together, but still, yeah, we're close. This is just like the thing with Stella all over again - you know that these things happen, but you never expect them to happen to people that you know."

"Well don't worry. The guy who did it is already in custody and he'll get what he deserves."

As Lindsay nodded again, Flack rejoined them. "That was the station. The guy that we arrested has sobered up slightly, and claims not to remember what happened. I've gotta go down and interrogate this guy."

"Alright. Keep us posted?"

"Always. Call if anything changes." With that Flack walked away.

Lindsay watched him leave, and then sank heavily back into the chair she'd previously occupied, shifting against the plastic. Danny sat down next to her and took her hand, whilst she rested her head on his shoulder, taking comfort in his closeness. All they could do now was wait.

* * *

Flack sat in the interrogation room, tapping his fingers against the cold steel table. Across from him sat the man he'd arrested earlier that night, who was holding his head and swaying slightly in his seat. Flack kept tapping, knowing that he was annoying the man before him, who was clenching and unclenching his hands everytime the hollow tap echoed through the room.

As Flack continued his tapping, waiting for the man to break, a hand shot out and grabbed his hand. "Stop. Please just stop."

"Alright, I will do, if you tell me what I need to know."

"Fine, sure anything but the tapping."

Flack nodded and leaned forwards. "Alright. So whats your name?"

"Andrew Phelps. Why the hell am I here?"

"I think you know Andrew. I think you know why you are here."

"I really think I don't."

Flack leant back once more and raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. He could see the beads of sweat across Andrew's forehead, but whether that was from nerves or something else he couldn't tell. What he could tell, after his many years on the police force, was that he was lying. All the signs were there - the shifty gaze, the eyes darting about the room, the fidgeting with the sleeve. Flack continued staring until Andrew met his gaze. His eyes were clouded from exhaustion, the bags under his eyes clearly visible.

Sensing the man wasn't going to say anything without being given a direction, Flack picked up the file next to him on the table. Flicking through it, he found what he was looking for. Withdrawing it from the pack, he slid the photo across the table.

Andrew looked at the photo blankly. "Am I supposed to know who this is?"

"That," Flack said, "Is Gemma Atkins. She's the woman you beat up and put in hospital this evening."

Shock, and fear, registered in the other man's face, the first identifiable emotion since the interrogation began. Andrew began shaking his head violently. "No. No, I did not beat anybody up. I don't know this person, I don't! Why would I beat up a random stranger?"

"I don't know Andrew I really don't. But yet you did."

"No, No I didn't. I couldn't, I wouldn't…"

Flack was beginning to get irritated. He knew the man was lying. But he was also afraid, and with some well chosen words, Flack knew Andrew would crack.

"No Andrew. You did. There is no doubt about it. We found you in her apartment, holding a gun, which had been shot at Miss Atkins here. You did beat her up." Flack leant forwards again, forcing Andrew to look at him. "We know you were there and we can prove it. If you tell us why you beat this woman up then maybe we can work something out." Seeing Andrew hesitate he continued, "I know you've been drinking. Maybe that influenced what you did. But I want to know WHY you beat this woman up if you don't even know who she is."

Andrew glanced around frantically, trying to find a way out of his situation. Not being able to find one, he sagged in his chair, and rested his elbows in the table, interlacing his fingers and leaning his head on them. Looking down at the table, he muttered "I got the wrong apartment."

Flack looked back disbelievingly. "You got the wrong apartment."

Andrew nodded furiously, still refusing to meet Flack's gaze. "Yeah I got the wrong apartment. I don't know this woman."

"So you went to this particular building to beat someone else up?"

"No no, it wasn't like that. I didn't intend to go there to beat someone up. It was just, I'd been drinking, and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to…"

"To what?"

"To try and convince her to change her mind."

"What, so this is about an ex-girlfriend?"

"No no. Its not. I didn't intend to hurt anyone, but the alcohol just messed me up, and I got the wrong apartment."

"Who's apartment were you aiming for?"

When Andrew answered, his voice was quiet, so quite that Flack had to repeat his question. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

This time, Flack heard his answer. And he felt his blood turn cold. Andrew whispered his answer again, unsure if Flack had heard. "Lindsay Monroe. I went there to see Lindsay Monroe."

* * *

_Erm, evil enough cliffie for ya? Want to know why this guy wanted to see Lindsay? Press the little grey button and let me know!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm back! Well, this is the next update at least - I'm sorry I take so long with it but I'm finding this quite difficult to write as I haven't written this style before._

_Merci a lot to all of my reviewers, alerters, favouriters and readers :) And thanks for sticking with me on this XD_

_Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would release season 5 in the UK NOW!_

* * *

"Detective Monroe?" Flack blinked a couple of times, staring at the man in disbelief, feeling his anger building in the pit of his stomach. "So you're telling me, that instead of beating up a defenceless young woman, you intended to beat up a police officer instead?"

Andrew looked down at the cold steel table in front of him, biting his lip as he nodded nervously. Flack narrowed his eyes and leant forwards so that his face hovered dangerously close to Andrew's face.

"Why?" Flack's voice was dripping with venom, and Andrew couldn't hold back a shiver. He hesitated. Flack jumped in. "Listen, you can tell me your story right now or you can tell it in front of a jury. I don't care. But I doubt beating up a girl you don't even know because you were drunk and got the wrong apartment, when you were aiming for a Detective's apartment I might add, will not go down well. So its up to you."

Andrew hesitated once more, weighing up his options. "It wasn't like I intended to hurt someone. I just thought I could convince Monroe to drop the charges against me."

"What charges?"

"I was accused of raping a girl last week, a girl from the Bronx. I didn't do it, but Monroe swears blind she found the evidence that proved I did it. My whole family turned against me because of this. I just though that I could convince her to drop the charges!"

"So instead you ended up beating a girl you don't know half to death."

"I didn't mean to do that. God, I didn't even want to hurt Monroe. But I'd been drinking, and I wasn't really thinking…"

"If you think claiming public intoxication ruled your actions, you have another thing coming." Flack stood up and stared down on the man before him disgustedly. "If this girl dies, the charge goes up from assault to murder. Add rape on top of that, and you'll be serving a life sentence. I hope it was worth it." With that, he stormed out of the room, pulling his cell from his pocket.

* * *

Back at the hospital, the trio had been given the all-clear to enter Gemma's room, and were now all seated around the bed, with the exception of Jenny who was looking out of the window at the dark night sky lit by all the lights that New York was famous for. The room was silent, apart from the steadying beeping of the heart monitor, and the occasional visit from the on-duty nurse, who came back regularly to check Gemma's vitals and administer the required dose of morphine.

Danny looked down at Lindsay resting on his shoulder, and saw that she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Poking her on the nose, he smiled softly as she scrunched her nose up and blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake. When Danny was certain she wasn't going to fall over, he stood up. At Lindsay's questioning glance, he headed towards the door. "I'm going to get coffee. You two want some?" Jenny nodded, and Lindsay smiled gratefully. "Alright, be back in a few." Danny left, and they could both hear the echo of his footsteps down the silent, deserted corridor becoming quieter and quieter.

Jenny sat down on the chair that Danny had vacated and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked towards the bed, and had to turn away, unable to see her friend in such a vulnerable state. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was now well past midnight.

She was not a hateful person, in fact, the way she had been brought up frowned upon hatred. In her life, she'd only ever hated 3 other people: Gemma's idiot of an ex; her own ex's best friend and her annoying English Lit teacher back in high school. But now, after the initial shock, she was slowly becoming more and more angry at the person that did this. Knowing that she could do nothing to help her friend, she felt helpless.

She'd been friends with Gemma for almost 15 years - they'd met through Jenny's ex Thomas, and their similar sarcastic sense of humour and their passion for shopping meant that they'd clicked instantly. But apart from these two similarities, they were complete opposites, which was probably why their friendship worked so well - they balanced each other out: Gemma with her loud brash personality and fiery temper, and Jenny with her ability to sort out most situations and her clear logical mind. Obviously, they hadn't always seen eye to eye on things, whether it be about the latest boyfriend or religion or whose turn it was to clean the apartment (which they bother hated), but their arguments had always been minor, and they still remained the best of friends long after Thomas was gone.

Jenny was brought back to the present by the frantic, erratic beating of the heart monitor not 5 feet away. She heard Lindsay shout for help, and soon the room was swarmed by medical staff, all shouting orders faster than her mind could process them. Nurses carrying all sorts of equipment swept past, and at the back of her mind Jenny registered the huge needle that the head doctor was currently holding. As the needle pierced Gemma's skin, Jenny distantly recalled how much her friend hated needles - so much so that she almost passed out when she had to have blood tests done.

Both Lindsay and Jenny watched as the doctors tried to stabilise Gemma's heart rate, both too shocked and frightened to comment or ask any questions. They both gasped in unison when the monitor flat-lined, watching helplessly as the doctors fought to save their friend's life.

"Paddles!"

* * *

_Gemma felt as if she was floating. _

_Everything around here was bathed in a white glow, tinted with gold, and all the noise was gone. The pain was gone. She looked down at herself, noting in awe that she could see through her body, could see the blood flowing through her veins. Yet she didn't feel afraid. She felt at peace. Looking around, she noticed she was alone. Taking a step forwards, suddenly feeling nervous, she headed towards a pinkish light in the distance. Squinting, she could vaguely see shapes moving into the light, and feeling elated, she moved faster. _

_As she drew closer and closer to the light, she suddenly felt ill at ease. Glancing around trying to locate the source of her discomfort, her gaze fixated on the floor. The floor beneath her seemed to be moving, whirling into another picture. Stopping, she watched as the floor transformed so that she was looking into a hospital room, as if she was looking through a glass ceiling. She could see the flurry of activity around the bed and it took a moment to realise that she was looking down on her own body. Kneeling down, she watched the electricity shot through her body, failing to restart her heart, and could see Jenny and Lindsay in the corner of the image, both with tears on their faces and wearing equal expressions of helplessness._

_Uncertainty washed over her as she felt herself being pulled two ways. One the one hand, she could feel the pull back to her earthly body, could feel that she had more she could accomplish if she went back. On the other, the pinkish light was almost irresistible, beckoning her to join those on the other side. She felt as if the pinkish light held more sway, but all she had to do was glance down to see the anguish on her friend's faces and she was stumped again. She wanted to go into the light, wanted to find out whatever came next. She really didn't want to go back into that body, her body, didn't want to feel the pain. But she didn't want to leave the world she knew so well behind like this - not now. _

_She had two choices, two paths she could take. She just didn't know which would be the better option._

* * *

**Evil enough cliffie? Please review, and feel free to make suggestions about where this should go - I haven't really got any concrete ideas at the moment. And pairings, storylines, whatever.**

**Review me happy :)**


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